Which test score corresponds to an SSD with mild severity?

Which test score corresponds to an SSD with mild severity?

• A. A z = -1.75 (i.e, 1.75 standard deviations below the mean)
• B. A standard score of 95
• C. A percentile rank of 12
• D. Any standard deviation score between 0 and -1

Answer: (C)

Understanding how severity is reflected in score types helps here. Mild impairment is typically below average but not far below, which in many norms corresponds to around the 7th–16th percentile. A percentile rank of 12 places a person just below average, signaling mild difficulty without reaching the range of more substantial impairment. This aligns with the common idea that mild SSD shows up as a modest below-average performance rather than a large gap. To connect the scales, a percentile of 12 roughly corresponds to a z-score near -1.17, which translates to a standard score in the low 80s if the mean is 100 and the SD is 15. That range fits mild severity better than a near-average score (standard score 95), a much lower z-score (would suggest more than mild), or a broad range (0 to -1) which isn’t a single concrete indicator of mild severity.

Understanding how severity is reflected in score types helps here. Mild impairment is typically below average but not far below, which in many norms corresponds to around the 7th–16th percentile. A percentile rank of 12 places a person just below average, signaling mild difficulty without reaching the range of more substantial impairment. This aligns with the common idea that mild SSD shows up as a modest below-average performance rather than a large gap.

To connect the scales, a percentile of 12 roughly corresponds to a z-score near -1.17, which translates to a standard score in the low 80s if the mean is 100 and the SD is 15. That range fits mild severity better than a near-average score (standard score 95), a much lower z-score (would suggest more than mild), or a broad range (0 to -1) which isn’t a single concrete indicator of mild severity.